


A New Year, A New Team

by BeccaAnne814



Series: Avengers x Reader Series [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Probably a curse word or two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:51:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22031803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaAnne814/pseuds/BeccaAnne814
Summary: In the quiet moments after all the guests have left, the team discusses their New Years’ Resolutions.  Some of them seem a bit outlandish, but are they really?
Relationships: Avengers x Reader
Series: Avengers x Reader Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1585822
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25





	A New Year, A New Team

**Avengers x Reader**

**Summary** – In the quiet moments after all the guests have left, the team discusses their New Years’ Resolutions. Some of them seem a bit outlandish, but are they really?

**Warnings** – Fluff and surprise cameos. . .probably a curse word or two

**Word Count** – 3.7K

**Notes:** Part 1 - 3 of 3

** _**Updated December 30, 2019**_ **

_ ** [Masterlist](https://beccaanne814.tumblr.com/post/174989754188/masterlist) ** _

The party had broken up hours ago, but none of the occupants of the Tower were ready to call it a night just yet. They'd had a tough year—a tough couple of years if they were being honest with themselves—and they wanted to spend a few more hours rebuilding the bonds of friendship and family that had been broken in years past.

[[MORE]]

"So, I guess it's that time," Tony announced as he poured himself another whisky from the crystal decanter sitting in the middle of the glass coffee table. 

"And what time would that be?" YN asked with a not-too-subtle roll of her eyes.

Tony scoffed as he downed the glass of whisky as though it were in a shot glass. "New Years resolutions, of course." He paused for a moment as the groans of his friends filled the room. "Come on, it'll be fun. I'll even go first. Mine is to finally make an honest woman out of Pepper."

A soft look came over Pepper's face as she leaned in and gave her fiancé a kiss. "Wouldn't you know it—that's mine, too."

"You really think you can make an honest man out of Tony Stark?" Rhodey asked as he began to laugh and shake his head.

Pepper's brow furrowed in disbelief. "Oh, good Lord no. I meant my that my resolution would be for Tony to make an honest woman out of me."

Rhodey nodded his head as everyone burst into laughter at her response. "Fair enough."

"Okay, who's next?" Tony asked with a clap of his hands. "No more joking around. Some of us are getting a second chance at life, so we need to take this seriously."

"Tony's right," Steve said as he sat up and braced his arms on his legs. "It's been a rough year, but we're getting a second chance to make things right." He paused as he met the eyes of everyone in the room. "I've got a list from the Make-A-Wish Foundation a mile long. Some of those kids may have made it back from the Soul Stone, but they've still got a death sentence hanging over their heads. I really need to make an effort this year to personally visit each one of them."

"That's an admirable goal," Vision said with a nod in Steve's direction. "As for me, I haven't been. . .alive—so to speak—for very long, but I've already experienced both birth and death. I want to take this year to focus on living."

Wanda reached over and took Vision's hand as they shared a loving look. "And I'll be by your side every step of the way."

"I think I'm going to focus on making every day count this year," YN said with a tight-lipped smile. "Losing so many people to the snap—and the stress of not knowing if we could save them—really took it's toll on me."

The group grew somber as they processed the truth of YN's words. They'd each gone through something traumatic in the aftermath of Thanos, and it would be a long time before any of them could truly say they'd gotten over it.

"I want to get back to the VA," Sam said when the silence in the room had stretched out for a few moments. "Their PTSD is going to be off the charts after this whole fiasco—I know mine is."

"The government is an absolute mess right now," Rhodey added with a sigh. "As much as I hate it, they're going to need someone with a clear head leading the way."

"This is good," Tony said with a smile on his face. "I really feel like we're getting somewhere. Who's next?"

"I'll go," Nat volunteered as she leaned back and crossed her legs. "We all know how much red I've got. . ."

"Enough of that shit," Clint said, interrupting his best friend. "Tasha, you've saved the world. . . What? Four or five times now?" With a brusque wave of his hand, he continued. "I've lost count of how many times—although I do know that the one time I wasn't invited to the party half the universe got zapped out of existence. Not saying that that had anything to do with it, but once I came back, everything got put back the way it was before."

A pillow came flying from somewhere to Clint's left, and he easily dodged it. Laughing, he grabbed it and threw it in Sam's direction since he was fairly certain the former Paratrooper was the one that had lobbed it at his head.

Turning back to Natasha, his face became serious again. "I don't think I'm alone when I say this, but you're a hero—you've wiped out all the red in your ledger so you're going to have to come up with something better."

"Heroine," Maria interjected as she swirled the amber colored liquid in her glass.

"I'm sorry, Hill. Did I hear you correctly?" Tony asked, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Are you saying your New Years resolution is to do drugs?"

"And here I thought you were the one with the genius-level IQ," Fury said as he rolled his one good eye.

"Heroine—as in a courageous woman," Maria clarified. With a snort she added, "Obviously, I'm going to need to spend some more time working on the feminist agenda this year."

Bruce tipped his bottle of beer up and drained the last few drops before speaking. "I know what I need to do this year. . ."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Tony said as he fell back into the couch cushions with a groan. "Anger management. . .gotta control the Hulk. . ." He sat up and pointed a finger at his friend. "You say the same thing every year, Banner. You and Romanoff have gotta come up with something else."

"As a matter of fact," Bruce said as tinges of green began to creep up from beneath the collar of his shirt. "That's the exact opposite of what I was going to say."

"Oh, really?" Tony asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Please, by all means, wow us with this spectacular revelation."

"Fine," Bruce said, his voice clipped in poorly controlled rage. **"My resolution is to let my anger have full reign this year. . ."**

"Woah," Bucky said as his eyes started to grow wide. "I know I'm not really a part of this little group, but that does not sound like a good idea at all."

Tony threw his hands up in frustration. "Dammit, Banner. Look what you've done. You've gone and made me agree with Barnes. This year is starting off with a bang."

"Now, now, Stark," Thor interjected as he placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "I think you're misjudging Banner. I've spent some time with the Hulk and he's quite the charming fellow—a little rough around the edges, but all in all not that bad ." Thor paused and whispered to Bruce. "I prefer you, though."

"What's your resolution, Thor?" Steve asked, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"We don't have New Years resolutions on Asgard, but since Asgard is no more, I guess it's best for me to start adapting to Midgardian customs." He took a deep breath and thought for a moment. "I should probably spend more time with my family, if the truth be told."

There was a long stretch of silence as everyone in the room looked to one another in confusion. 

Nat was the first to ask the question everyone else was thinking. "Isn't all of your family dead?" 

Thor's face split into a wide grin as he tipped the flask of Asgardian mead to his lips. As he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he gave Fury a pointed look.

A shimming green light enveloped the former S.H.I.E.L.D. director as the magic surrounding him began to dissipate to reveal the one person no one wanted to see.

"Surprise," Loki said with his signature smirk.

The room of superheroes sat in stunned silence as they each tried to figure out how long Loki had been masquerading as their former boss. The vein on the side of Tony's head was starting to bulge as his face started getting redder and redder.

"What?" Pietro asked with a snort. "You didn't see that coming?"

"So, are we going to talk about what happened last night?" Tony asked as Bruce stumbled into the lab.

Bruce squinted at the time on one of the computer monitors. "It's barely past noon, Tony. Do we really have to do this now?"

Tony stood and walked over to his friend and laid a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, Banner. It's me."

"Yeah, that's the part that's confusing me the most," Bruce admitted with a grimace. "Since when did you becoming the deep-emotion guy? I thought that was Steve's thing?"

Tony hemmed and hawed for a moment before finally confessing. "Pepper is concerned that I'm bottling up all of my emotions. Our therapist. . ."

"Your therapist?" Bruce interrupted. "Since when did you start seeing a therapist?"

"Right about the time Pepper found out he almost died on his little field trip to Titan," YN interjected as she peeked out from behind her work station.

Bruce forced a smile onto his face and carefully nodded his aching head. "Hey, YN, didn't see you there." He turned back to Tony. "I think it's great you're talking to someone. . ."

"Yeah, I bet you are," Tony teased with a wink.

"I told you—I'm not that kind of doctor," Bruce reminded him.

"I know, I know." Tony brushed aside his concerns. "The point I'm trying to make is that I'm worried about you. What you said last night. . ."

"If you had let me explain. . ."Bruce interrupted.

Tony continued speaking as though Bruce hadn't said a word. ". . .doesn't make any sense, buddy. You were stuck as the Hulk for over two years."

"Tell me about it," Bruce lamented as he thought about the two years of his life that had been lost while the Hulk had been living it up as the Grandmaster's pet. 

Bruce shook his head and tried to focus his train of thought through the haze of the worst hangover he'd ever experienced. "Anyway, I think I've been going about this all wrong, Tony."

"Let him speak," YN warned Tony when she saw him gearing up to hit his soap box again.

Tony shut his mouth with a frustrated sigh and motioned for Bruce to explain his reasoning.

"We good?" Bruce asked. "You're not going to keep interrupting me to tell me how stupid you think my idea is?"

"Tony's going to behave," YN assured Bruce as she gave Tony a hard look. "Aren't you, Tony?"

"Who invited you again?" Tony asked YN with his usual sarcastic wit.

YN gave him a wink. "Don't forget who helped you make it back to Earth."

"Touché," Tony admitted before turning back to Bruce. "By all means, please enlighten me as to the reason why you think the Hulk needs to come out and play more often."

Bruce pursed his lips and tried to find the best way to put his thoughts into words. "You remember what happened at the Sanctum right after I got back. I was completely useless in the fight against Thanos because the Hulk wouldn't appear when I called him."

"Okay, so you're saying he needs to be better trained?" Tony asked with a confused look.

"That's the opposite of what I'm trying to say." Bruce paused and ran a hand down his haggard face. "We've been treating the Hulk like some kind of toy—or weapon—I don't know. The point is, Hulk has his own consciousness that even I wasn't fully aware of. He's not the most civilized being on the planet, but he's got feelings just everyone else."

"I think I see where you're going with this," Tony said as the pieces started falling into place. "You want the Hulk to feel like he has. . .uh, a what?. . .a life?"

Bruce shrugged his shoulders. "If that's what it takes to make sure he'll be available when we need him, then yeah."

YN's brow furrowed as she tried to understand what Bruce was saying. "So, you don't think that the Hulk is an extension of your own psyche?"

"No, not exactly," Bruce confirmed. "I think we're linked, but he has his own personality separate from mine." 

"And you think we all need to get to know him—to be friends with him?" Tony asked as he arched one brow in question.

"Something like that. It'll be good for you all to train with him so you'll be better prepared for the next big bad that comes knocking on our door."

"I think it's a great idea," YN said, earning her two shocked glances from the geniuses. "Not that my opinion matters at all."

"Dammit, Banner," Tony exclaimed as he grimaced and shook his head. "That's twice this year that you've forced me to agree with the two biggest idiots in this Tower."

"Hey now," YN said, immediately taking offense. "I may not be a genius, but at least I'm not an airhead like Pietro."

"I apologize, YN," Tony said as he conceded YN's point. "I keep forgetting we brought him back with the rest of the idiots that got zapped by the snap."

"Ignore Tony," Bruce told her with a smile. "I think you've done a fabulous job."

"Well at least someone appreciates how much I do around here," she mumbled under her breath as she turned back to her work.

"So, you'll help me with the Hulk?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "If that's what you really want to do, then I'll help."

Bruce's face split into a wide grin. "It's really good to have you back."

"Science bros?" Tony asked as he held out his fist.

Bruce gave Tony a fist bump. "Science bros."

** _One Year Later_ **

"I can't believe you had a party and didn't invite me," Fury said as he walked into the common room and found his team lounging around looking a little wasted from their New Year's festivities.

"We're not falling for this again," Tony said as he rolled his eyes.

YN's brow furrowed as her face scrunched up in a grimace. "This is almost beneath you. Same disguise two years in a row." She shook her head sadly. "You're off your game, Loki."

"Loki?" Fury asked as his one good eye widened in disbelief. "You think I'm that crazy-ass diva?"

"Um," Loki interjected with a pained smile from his perch on one of the bar stools across the room. "Not me this time."

Tony looked from Loki to Fury, and then back to Loki. "When did you get here?"

Loki huffed and rose to leave. "Apparently my reputation as the God of Mischief is slipping since I came to earth. Perhaps it's time to go murder someone."

Thor threw out an arm to stop him as he shoved a flask at him. "Enough, brother. Sit down and have another drink."

"So, Nick," Maria said as if Loki hadn't said a word. "It's been a while. Care to enlighten us as to where you've been?"

Fury pulled up a chair and flipped it around so he could straddle it and rest his arms on the back. "As a matter of fact, I've just returned from an interesting little trip."

"Oh, yeah," Steve said with a smile. "Where'd you go? Someplace nice?"

"I wish," Fury scoffed. "I just got back from one of those alternate universes you guys discovered last year."

"Why?" Nat asked worriedly.

"Because _I_ came here and asked me to go." Fury saw the confused look on their faces, so he elaborated. "Another version of me popped in a little over a year ago and asked me to go take care of his universe." He paused and shook his head. "Remind me to never complain about your sorry asses ever again."

"What was it like?" Peter asked as he dropped down head-first on one of his webs.

"Son of a bitch," Tony exclaimed as he jumped and spilled his drink all over himself. "I've told you a thousand times to stop doing that."

"Sorry Mr. Stark," Peter apologized as he did a flip and landed on his feet. "I just wanted to hear Director Fury's story."

"Didn't we tell you to go home a few hours ago?" Sam asked as he looked to Bucky for confirmation.

Bucky nodded. "Yeah we did. I believe his aunt called and wanted him home."

Fury shook his head. "I've missed you assholes. I can't believe those words actually came out of my mouth, but after the last year of dealing with the screw-ups in the alternate universe, I have a new appreciate for my team of idiots."

"They couldn't have been that much different, could they?" Clint asked.

"Oh, Barton—you have no idea," Fury said with a low whistle. "Those idiots let their Stark wield the gauntlet by himself." He turned to Nat. "And you don't even want to know what happened on Vormir."

"Wait a second," Tony said as he held up a hand. "That much energy would've killed me."

"It did," Fury said. "Which is why that universe is a complete shit-show. Quentin Beck conned your little protégé into handing over the controls to the Stark Industries defense satellite. The other Nick was working on a side project with the Skrulls so he left Talos in charge." He closed his eye and shook his head. "That was his first mistake, but at least he had sense enough to come looking for me to mop up that holy hell of a mess."

"So, I'm dead in that universe?" Tony asked as he glanced over at Pepper and reached out to squeeze her hand. 

"Apparently we're both dead." Nat laughed and took a sip of her beer. "They really are a bunch of idiots."

"There was one interesting difference," Nick said as he gave Bruce a side-eyed glance. "You figured out a way to merge yourself with the other guy. All your brains combined with his brawn—it's a pretty powerful combination."

"Huh?" Bruce asked as he tried to imagine the possibility. "How'd he do it?"

Fury waved a hand in the air. "Something about gamma rays."

"Did it change this?" Bruce asked as he nodded toward his still-somewhat useless arm.

"Sorry, Banner, but that seems to be the price everyone pays for using those damn stones," Fury said as he glanced toward Tony's scarred right side. Plastering a smile on his face, he changed the subject. "So what did I miss? Other than your pet homicidal maniac over there, that is."

Everyone shrugged as they tried to think of something interesting to tell him.

"Oh, Pepper and I finally got married," Tony said as he held up his left hand to show off his wedding ring. He rubbed her belly lovingly before continuing. "We're also expecting."

"Ten bucks it's a girl you name Morgan," Fury said with a shit-eating grin.

Pepper's face morphed into one of shock. "How did you know? We haven't told anyone yet."

"Oh, did I forget to mention that those numbskulls were five years behind you in fixing the Thanos situation?" Nick asked earning him a roomful of astonished looks. "They got really pissy after Stark came back from Titan and pretty much didn't speak for half a decade. It's no wonder they didn't figure out that working together would save their Stark from certain death destroying that ugly purple grape."

"It took them five years to figure out how to manipulate the space-time continuum?" Bruce asked. "We figured that out as soon as Scott showed up."

Nick nodded his head. "I did some digging on that. Turns out the storage facility that housed Lang's van had just been fumigated for rats right before the Snap in their universe."

"But ours wasn't?" YN asked.

"Nope," Nick said. "That warehouse was crawling with rats, so he got brought back a hell of a lot earlier and it changed everything."

"I thought Doctor Strange said there was only one way we could defeat Thanos?" Peter asked.

"One way for this universe to defeat him," Nick clarified. "There are a few alternate realities out there that didn't get it done." He shook his head. "It's not a pretty sight."

"Hmm." Tony scratched his beard as he thought. "How many of them ended up like ours?"

"As far as I know—none," Fury answered honestly. "This universe seems to be the only one where everyone survived."

"I wonder why?" Steve asked. "What's the difference?"

Fury looked over and met YN's eye. "Her."

"Me?" YN asked. "What makes me so special?"

"Because, Agent YLN, this is the only universe where you exist."

** _~ The End ~_ **

______________________

_Author's Note: Thank you for reading Day 364 of my writing challenge. I hope you enjoyed it! Well, this is it. . .for me at least. This was the very last prompt I had to write, so I decided to mix things up a bit. I hadn't intended to make this prompt a continuation of the first two, but once this idea took hold, it seemed like the perfect way to end this year. Looking back on those first two prompts, it breaks my heart to realize how much I got wrong (and how much I got right) about Endgame. Did you like my reasoning for why "our" universe is so much different than canon? I thought it was a nice little Plot Twist—and a good way to say thank you to all of you that have embarked on this journey with me! Your presence in this world truly makes a difference, so don't ever lose sight of that! I hope you've enjoyed reading these prompts as much as I've enjoyed writing them! There's still one more left to go for tomorrow, so it's not over just yet! I look forward to your comments, and if you enjoyed this story, please consider reblogging!_


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